Exotic Scuba Diving Site: Garden Eel Cove, Kona, Hawaii
Manta rays are the marquee headliners of this nightly show at this shallow site.
This site goes by a couple of names, including Manta Heaven, but Garden Eel Cove is the most popular one. Garden Eel Cove is the perfect description for this site during daylight hours, when the shallow black-sand bottom hosts a healthy population of Hawaiian garden eels (Gorgasia hawaiiensis). Like other garden eels, the Hawaiian species (which is believed to be endemic) close up their homes just around sunset.
Reef manta ray visiting the site at night.
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But at night this humble site is often a theater for a stunning, free-wheeling performance put on by reef mantas (Manta alfredi). The dive is easy and endlessly entertaining. Lights placed on the ocean floor and the ones held by divers attract the plankton the filter-feeding rays love to feed on. Kona’s nonprofit Manta Pacific Research Foundation has identified more than 200 mantas in Big Island waters, and helped set the rules for how divers engage with these beautiful animals.
The drill: Your dive operator will get you to the site in plenty of time to view a gorgeous Hawaiian sunset. Just as it gets dark, you’ll follow your divemaster to the sand bottom, where you’ll settle into your sand “seat” to wait for the show to begin. Sometimes, the mantas don’t show up (an alternate viewing spot is in Keauhou Bay, in front of the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa).
Spinner dolphins are beloved for their acrobatic displays; while you’re at this site to see the mantas, during the daytime — and even rarely at night — you may get a treat when these cetaceans show up.
iStock Photo
If you’re diving Garden Eel Cove during the daytime, spinner dolphins will sometimes make an appearance — they rest in shallow water after a night of hunting in deeper waters. If you are in the water at the same time as these amazing, acrobatic cetaceans, do not approach them. Your dive operator will brief you on how critical it is for the animals to be left alone — but sometimes, they will come check you out. When that happens, have your camera at the ready.
Type of Dive: Day or night; at night, you’ll follow strict procedures.
Depth: 35 feet.
Visibility: Powerful lights illuminate the ocean.
Water Temperature: Depending on time of year, Hawaii’s water temps range from 70˚ F to upper 70s. A 5mm wetsuit will keep most divers warm.
Skill Level: You don’t have to be an advanced diver, but you should be comfortable with night diving.
When to Go: Year-round — in winter, the humpback whales are in the islands; in fall, the water is warmer and calmer.
For liveaboard options, visit Kona Aggressor, or for land-based operations visit Jack’s Diving Locker and Kona Honu Diver.